Edward d



@uiten taten atmtyffire IMPROVED RAILROAD-RAIL.

"dige tigrhnlc ruimt tu in tlgiseitrtitrs tant mit making 3nd nf its umu.

Be it known that I, EDWARD D. PnITcnAnD, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvementx in Railroad-Rails, of which the following is a full, clear, and cxaotdescription, referencev being had to the accompanying drawings, making apart of this specification, in whichvFigure 1 vrepresents a side elevation,

Figure 2 is a plan view, and v Figure 3 is a section of the main portion of the rail.

Figure 4 is a section of'the joint, ori-line :c :v of tig. 2.

The object of my invention is to connect the ends of railroadrails together ,in such a manner as to pre' e rent the concussive jar 'occasioned by the passing of the wheels of a railroad-carer locomotive from one rail to `another, so as to insure a smooth and even passage of the wheels over the rails, and prevent injuryvtothe ends of the rails, and also to admit of the necessary expansion and contraction oftheV rails caused by the changes of temperature. And the invention consists in forming the ends of the rails with a bevelled or inclined side, so that when the two ends of adjacent rails are joined together they will have the same width of tread as the main portion of the rail. The outer side of the portion of the'rail thus bevelled is made flush, oar nearly so, with'the tread of the rail, so as to increase its thickness, and give it additionals'trength.. The two bevelled ends areconnected together by means of square Aboltsand nuts, the boltsbeingtted in square holes which are enlarged in the thinner portion of each end of the rail, so as to admit of suiiicient movement to accominodnte the expansion and contraction ofjhe rails. In passing over the rails the wheels of the locomotive or ear depress the end ot' one rail slightly belowv the level of the next rail,tlxus causing a succession of jars which in timeprove injurious to the cars, as well as tothe rails, thc ends of the latter becoming battered and rendered useless, so as to require frequent renewal. Various attempts have been made to remedy these defects,- but as far as I am aware, `without full success. 4

Referring to' the -drawingspalizrepresent, respectively, the ends of adjacent rails. At apoint sometwenty inches, more or less, from the'end ofthe rail, is formed a shoulder, e, and from the inner endof the said shoulder the rail is bevelled oii` to its-end, leaving a suiicient thickness'atthe end of the rail to tit-within a corresponding shoulder in the adjacent rail. -The outer side of the portion thus bevelled oil' is made flush, ror nearly so, with the edge of the tread, as shown in iig. 4, in order to g'ive additional strength to the ends of the rails. The outer end 0f each rail is provided with a.' curved or square projection, d, tti'ng within a corresponding rccess in the next rail, so as to aid in preventing the end of one railfrom rising above that of the nent one. The ends or bevelled portions of the railsiare secured together by means of bolts and nuts, the bolts being made square and iitting within square holes" in the rails. The holes or openings that receive the bolts are enlarged or made oblong near the smaller portion of the bevelled ends of `the rail, on each side, in order to admit oi' a slight longitudinal movement of the rails occasioned by the 'expansion or lcontraction o'f the rails. When the rails are securely bolted together, they will forma continuous, even-bearing surface, the joints being so arranged as to avoid any jar or concussion from the wheels as the lat-ter pass from one rail to a another. i

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is i A railroad-rail, formed with enlarged ends, as described, and mitred joints, when the small end of the joint is provided with shoulders c, and connected together by means of bolts passing through elongated open-V ings in the same, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. v

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDWARDv D. PRITCHARD.

Witnesses:

J. H. ADAMS, RICHARD JACQUES. 

